328 FAMILY CERAMBYCIDAE 



These observations were much augmented by Mr. A. P. Percival, I.F.S., 

 in Balaghat in 1905. Mr. (now Sir Sainthill) Eardley Wilmot, Inspector- 

 General of Forests, during a cold-weather tour in Balaghat had noticed some 

 fine large green sal-trees dying under the attacks of an insect. The trees 

 were suffering so severely that the infestation was considered to be of 

 serious importance, and instructions were issued that an investigation 

 should be carried out at an early date. The result of Mr. Percival's 

 observations very materially forwarded our knowledge of the life history 

 of Hoplocerambyx in the Central Provinces, and I published them in Forest 

 Bulletin No. 8.* Both here and in my short notes published in Injurious 

 Insects, it was considered that the grub spent more than one year in 

 this stage of its existence. The beetle was thought to first appear on 

 the wing at the end of May and chiefly in June. The eggs had not been 

 found. 



In April and May 1909 I toured in the Mandla district adjacent to the 



Balaghat forests, and had the opportunity of studying further the habits 



of this interesting longicorn. As a result of my investigations, during 



which I took the beetle ovipositing and found numerous eggs, it has become 



necessary to modify the opinion that the larva spends more than a year 



in this stage of its existence, and that consequently the life-cycle takes 



over a year to pass through. In Assam we have seen that it is possible 



that the insect may pass through two, or nearly two, life-cycles in the 



year, i.e. that an autumn generation of beetles may issue, their offspring 



issuing probably in the following July. In the very hot damp climate of 



Assam the larva would doubtless develop quicker than in a hot dry one. 



In the Central Provinces no beetles appear on the wing in the autumn; 



but the first beetles of the year appear early in April, and in the third 



week of the month they are to be found egg-laying in the forest. Thus 



the fact would seem to be established that in this part of the country 



the beetles are to be found in the forest, and that consequently eggs are 



laid in the trees in the forest, between the middle of April and about the 



middle of July, or approximately during a period of three months. This 



would account for the difference in the size of larvae found in the trees. 



That this is the case is, moreover, borne out by the fact that an examination 



of infested trees in Mandla in April in no case brought to light young larvae. 



Very few old ones were visible, and they in every case full-grown. The bulk 



were at the time down in their pupal chambers in the heart-wood of the 



trees, either in the form of pupae or as immature or mature beetles. 



We will now glance at a few of the other differences of the life history of 



the insect in the Central Provinces. 



Egg-laying. The beetle here lays its eggs on the outer bark and in the 

 crevices, as is its habit in Assam. It appears, however, invariably to lay 



' Note on the Life History of Hoplocerambyx spiniconiis. For. Bulletin no. 8 

 (1906). 



